Little Shop of Horrors Returns to Grand Marais
By Taylor Onski
Hungry for a campy, cheesy horror musical on your next Grand Marais getaway? If so, check out Grand Marais Playhouse’s production of Little Shop of Horrors.
Based on the 1986 cult classic film starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene, the musical features a flower shop on Skid Row in 1960s New York that becomes home to a Venus flytrap with a taste for human blood. Actors Jay DeCoux and Tina Hegg Raway lead the show as Seymour and Audrey, and cannot wait to bring this show back to the stage. For Hegg Raway and director Sue Hennessy, this show is both a celebration of the Playhouse’s 50th Anniversary, and a return to their theatre roots.
“Sue, the artistic director of the Grand Marais Playhouse, directed her first musical, the high school musical Little Shop, in 2000. There, she discovered a new singer, who came out of nowhere—me,” says Hegg Raway. “So, we are both reprising this show that has an amusing discovery story because I didn’t know I could sing and I have had a lifetime of singing since that show.”
However, the show’s strengths are not just the great music or its outrageous story, but all those working behind the scenes. “We’ve got a handful of ‘kids’ taking on big roles, so they’re learning all this stuff and we’re watching them grow from practice to practice,” says DeCoux. For Hagg Raway, this multi-generational cast, including a 17-year-old playing plant shop owner Mr. Mushnik, is one of her favourite things about working with Grand Marais Playhouse.
While this show is a community event, Grand Marais Playhouse welcomes Thunder Bay tourists to say “sure” and check out all the talent and fun—albeit unusual—musical story just an hour’s drive away. “What I like best about this show is the whole lesson of the show. There are some fun lessons about believing in yourself and believing that you’re worthy. And that’s something this playhouse really promotes. This playhouse is for everyone,” says Hegg Raway.
Little Shop of Horrors runs August 4–7 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts (51 West 5th Street, Grand Marais, Minn.)
For more information visit grandmaraisplayhouse.com.
